Two Steps Back
by RedLeaderFic
Summary: Seth has no regrets about the whole curb stomp into the cinder blocks thing. Zero. Dean/Seth, set immediately after the cinder blocks incident. Written for the 2015 Not Prime Time exchange.


Seth had expected Dean to move. Hadn't _hoped_ he'd move, that was for sure, but Dean had such a gift for screwing up his plans. Even when he was midair, right up until the last second Seth expected Dean to shake Kane off and scramble out of the way.

But he didn't. The cinder blocks cracked under his boot loud enough to make Seth's ears ring. He hadn't expected that either. When he and Kane had done the dry run for this earlier the blocks cracking had been loud, sure, but Seth had figured the crowd noise would drown most of that out. Instead it had sounded like a rifle shot. Shook him up.

Seth backed away when the ref ordered him to and leaned against the table once he was able to get his feet back under him. It wasn't like once the cover came off those blocks he's expected the match to keep going. This was about making the statement. Sure, he would've liked to get the pin and really rub Dean's face in it but Authority had taught him to appreciate the value of giving up the little victory to set up long term success.

 _Ambrose is breathing, right?_ Seth crept forward, climbing up on the announcer's table. He was. Of course he was, Seth just hadn't been able to tell from the floor. The ref was freaking out, calling for the medics, and Seth wanted to tell him not to bother. Injuries bounced off Dean Ambrose the same way logic and sense did, it had always been that way. Seth kept his eyes trained on Dean while the medics finally started working on him. Dean had them all fooled, but not Seth. Dean was playing the crowd, making Seth look even more like the bad guy. The second he turned his back Dean was going to jump up and attack him, Seth knew him.

Dean was on the backboard before Seth began to think maybe this really was going according to plan. Dean hated being carted out. He'd crawl to the back before he'd let trainers put him on one of those boards, Seth could think of half a dozen matches off the top of his head where he and Roman had dragged him out before the ringside medics could see how bad off he was. It was...Seth didn't know. A little spooky, seeing Dean quiet and still like this. His breathing was steady enough but he wasn't responding at all and Seth could see the medics didn't like that.

The cameras were off and Kane caught his eye, clearly getting bored. Seth waved him off. He couldn't be one hundred percent sure until they dragged Dean all the way out. He had to see this to the finish. That would impress the Authority, show good follow through.

The medic crew hoisted Dean up; with the new vantage point Seth spotted a fine tremor in Dean's hands and felt an unwelcome speck of doubt creep in. He wasn't sure Dean could fake that, not this well. It was too late to be playing to the cameras and Seth didn't think they'd be picking up this up anyway, they weren't close enough and it was too subtle. No voluntary movement paired with tremors was not...great, as signs went. Seth kept his eyes locked on Dean as the medics put him on the stretcher, watching for tells he was faking. _C'mon, Ambrose. Quit playing to the crowd already._

Kane caught his eye again and nodded to the back. _Time to go._ Seth glanced at Dean one more time and pushed that shard of doubt as far down as it would go. Maybe Dean wasn't faking. So what. They'd all warned Dean what would happen if he didn't back off, he'd brought this all on himself. If Dean wanted someone to blame all he had to do was find a mirror.

No one in the back would meet his eyes. Even the production techs were giving him the cold shoulder and there was undisguised hostility from the roster guys. Seth puffed out his chest and stared down anyone who even looked like they might give him trouble. They _should_ all be looking differently. They knew what he was capable of now; he and Dean had practically lived in each others pockets for over a year, if Seth was willing to do _that_ to Ambrose everyone else had to be wondering what he would do to them if they pushed him. They'd be a lot more careful about staying out of his way now, that alone should make all this worth it.

A bout of the shakes hit just as he got the the Authority locker room and Seth sat down quick before anyone could notice. He had no idea what that was about. Adrenaline, probably. Hunter came over and gave him a "good job, kid" speech and that felt pretty good, Seth had to admit. Hard to believe it had only been a few months since all those nights he and Dean and Roman sat up late trying to figure how to take the whole thing down. What idiots they had all been, risking their whole careers literally for principle all that time. From inside the Authority it was so easy to tell this was a war they couldn't have won, no matter how many meaningless victories they racked up. Seth didn't want to think about where he'd be if he hadn't come to his senses. Probably on a stretcher right next to Dean.

Hunter had asked him a question. Seth pulled his scattered focus back together to make it look like he'd been paying attention the whole time. "Come again?"

He didn't think Hunter was fooled. Hunter was never fooled, but he didn't look mad either. "I said, do you feel up to a little celebrating? We turned a big corner tonight."

"Yeah. I don't know. Later, maybe. I need to process, I guess."

"Hey, don't worry, I get it. First time I put Michaels in the hospital I got emotional too."

Seth rolled his eyes. "I'm not emotional, I'm just...I dunno. I'm tired. You guys go out, I'll catch up." Seth chewed the inside of his lip, hoping to keep the next words back but not able to. "So how good a job did I do, anyway?"

Hunter grinned and Seth felt a chill rush through him. A lifetime ago that was the exact grin on the dartboard Dean had made to keep them all motivated, the one they'd used until it fell apart. Hunter leaned conspiratorially close, one hand on Seth's shoulder. "Early yet, but rumor has it we won't have to hear Dean Ambrose's name again for a long, long time."

Seth nodded. "Good. Good, that's...that's what we wanted."

"Sure is." Hunter clapped him on the shoulder hard enough for Seth to almost fall off the bench. "Shower, take your time, shoot me a text if you feel up to anything later." Seth nodded again and Hunter and Kane headed out, Kane giving him that same gloating grin from ringside. It took a second for Seth to be able to return it.

Seth's stomach was in knots and it was a relief when the door slammed and shut everyone out. He tried to figure if Hunter had been laying that pride on a little _too_ thick. Had this been a test? If so Seth knew he couldn't have done better, everything had gone off without a hitch. Seth pushed that train of thought away; he was being paranoid and looking for things to go wrong. This was a win, he should take it as one. Seth took the hottest shower he could stand until the shakes went away and he started feeling more like himself; sure, maybe this wasn't the win he'd dreamed of but Dean hadn't given him any choice. Seth let the water pelt him and focused on the future: no more interference when he tried to cash in, no more weirdos jumping out at him from giant gifts boxes, all of that was behind him. The longer Seth stood there the more obvious it was how right this plan really had been.

888

The lights were on in his room. Seth didn't remember leaving the lights on, he was usually pretty good about that. He'd lost track of his room key somewhere between the hotel and the arena – not the normally the biggest deal, the hotel had just made him a new one – but Seth had a very uneasy feeling about it now. He pushed the door all the open, making sure to take a good look before stepping inside. Maybe he hadn't just left his key behind. It wasn't unknown for fans to sneak into hotel rooms, he hadn't kept that close an eye on his bag and there were always people milling around backstage. Maybe he should take Hunter up on that private security offer after all.

The room seemed empty, although Seth almost killed himself tripping over the free-standing lamp someone had knocked over. He checked the bathroom and under the bed, finally letting himself relax a little when no one seemed to be hiding anywhere. He even found the lost room key discarded on the floor, although Seth couldn't figure out how it had gotten there. Maybe housekeeping was just really lax in this place.

Seth took a closer look at the key and noticed a smudge of something on the edge of the card, some kind of chalky dust. He looked up and spotted the closet door just _slightly_ ajar, another whitish smudge on the fake wood trim. He felt the same zap to his spine dread he'd felt walking past those presents at Hogan's ridiculous birthday party.

After a few seconds of working up his nerve Seth walked over to the closet, taking a deep breath before sliding the door open. In the back of his mind Seth knew what would be there but he still took a startled step back at finding Dean sitting on the floor. "Ambrose? The hell are you doing here?"

Seth's alarm faded a little when Dean frowned and looked up, blinking like he couldn't place Seth for a second. His eyes were glassy and focused somewhere vaguely over Seth's shoulder, like he was seeing multiple Seths and making his best guess. "No one's gonna look for me here." Like it was so obvious he couldn't figure out why Seth had even asked the question. Before Seth could even begin to come up with an answer for that Dean's phone went off, making Dean flinch like the ringtone was much louder than it really was. He fumbled the phone out of his pocket and stared it for two full rings before holding it out to Seth. "It keeps doing this."

Seth took the phone and saw Roman's name blinking on the screen. At a loss of what in the hell he was supposed to do Seth hit ignore and tried to hand it back, finally slipping it into his own pocket when Dean just stared at him. "How did you even...oh." Seth groaned as it came together. "You stole my key."

Dean shrugged, wincing when he did like it hurt. "Y'still keep them in the same place."

"How did you even get back here?"

Dean frowned again, like that was a very good question. "I don't know. I think there was a bus. I remember a bus."

"But _why_ did you-" Someone pounded on the door hard enough to shake the frame; before Seth could do more than think _oh what now?_ he heard Roman's bellow loud and clear through the door. "Seth, you got two seconds to open up or I'm knocking this down and coming in." Dean sent him a wide-eyed look, shaking his head _no_ , and Seth slammed the closet door shut before his brain could question what the hell he was doing.

Roman started pounding on his door again, apparently ready to make good on his threat. When Seth opened up Roman grabbed him by the throat before Seth could get so much as a word out. "Where _is_ he?"

Seth squirmed out his grip, taking a few quick steps back. "The hell is wrong with you? Keep your hands off me."

Roman took a step inside the room but at least didn't lunge for him again. "This isn't funny and it's not a game. If you know where he is you gotta tell me."

"I don't even know what you're talking about," Seth said, hoping panic wasn't all over his face. At first he'd thought Roman must have heard the phone earlier but that couldn't be it, he would have opened up with a punch if he'd been that sure.

"Dean got away from the medical team, no one knows where he is. He took his phone and left everything else at the arena, the only person who saw him was some camera guy he bummed twenty dollars from. No one's seen him since and he's not answering his phone."

"So why the hell would I have any idea where that nutcase is? Plenty of bridges his this town, start looking under some of those."

Roman shook his head, giving Seth a clear as day _you know why_ look. "Don't bullshit me Seth, not now, not about this." He raked one hand through his hair and no one had a worse poker face than Roman Reigns, Seth could tell he scared, not just worried. "The doctors, they...they said he might have cracked his skull, messed up his spine, maybe even broke his neck. He can't be out there wandering on his own like this, he needs to be in a hospital."

"I don't get why you think this is my problem. Or why I'd even care where that lunatic ran off to. Good riddance."

"Seth, just pretend for five seconds you're even half the guy you were when we met."

"I am _exactly_ the same guy now I was then, it's not my fault the two of you are too dumb to see it." Roman tensed, like he was going to take a swing, and Seth got right into his face. "You gonna hit me, Reigns? Go ahead. Do your best, I won't even hit back. I will take it just to be able to watch the Authority throw you out on your ass so you have to explain to your little brat why daddy doesn't have job anymore."

Seth had no idea where Roman got off looking so betrayed, like Seth was the one who'd gone barging into his room. "I shouldn't have stood back and let you two fight this out. I never thought you'd go this far. Never."

"Y'know, this is real rich. If you're so concerned about poor Ambrose where the hell _were_ you tonight? Me and Kane were double teaming him forever before the blocks came out. What happened, you fall asleep?"

"I...I left early, I had to-"

"You leaving was what let it happen. You know that, right? That was the one thing I was worried about, you blundering in and ruining things but when I saw you skip out I couldn't believe my luck. Remember when the rule was we all watched each other's matches, just in case? If that's the kind of backup I could expect from my 'brothers' good thing I've got the Authority watching my back now, huh?" Roman looked like he'd been slapped and Seth pressed his advantage. "You don't want to admit it but me breaking up the Shield was the best thing that ever happened to you. You're shooting up to the main event like a rocket, all those stupid kids out there wearing your shirts. You should be writing me a check every time you sell one of those because it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't cut you free." Seth dared taking another step closer. "So tell me again how this is all _my_ fault."

Roman's buttons were so easy to push sometimes. "Seth, please," he said, the macho anger all drained away. "If you have any idea you gotta let me know."

"Get the hell out of my hotel room." Before Roman could regain his composure Seth backed him into the hallway and slammed the door shut. He braced against the door just in case Roman really did try to knock it down but all he did knock one more time, and when Seth didn't respond after a few minutes he heard footsteps echo down the hall. Seth waited another minute to make sure Roman just wasn't storming back with reinforcements, then locked the door and turned back to the closet.

Yep, Dean was still there. Seth had really hoped he'd imagined this whole bizarre thing. "Why'd you make me do that?"

"Don't want Roman to see me all fucked up. It gets him upset." Seth could only sigh because that tracked. When they'd all been riding together and Dean had one of those bad, too jacked up to sleep nights Seth's room was the one he'd always wound up in. Roman fussed like a mother hen when he was worried and that was exactly the wrong way to handle Dean, he needed to be humored until he could be talked into taking care of himself. After a while they'd just stopped getting separate rooms. Well, for that and other reasons. "Y'shouldn't have said all that. 'S not his fault."

"He's the one who started off trying to strangle me, okay?" He really needed to figure a way out of this that didn't involve explaining why Dean Ambrose was in his hotel room. "You gotta get out of here."

"Could ya shut the lights? There's...there's too much light in here."

Dean was slurring so bad it took Seth a second to puzzle out what he'd said. "I...yeah. Yeah, sure." The room had a dimmer switch and Seth put it just low enough for him to still be able to see. "That better?" Dean nodded, wincing and breathing hard like that had hurt a lot. "Good." Dean kept flexing his left hand, like it had fallen asleep. The words _messed up his spine_ bounced around Seth's head until he forcibly shook them away. "C'mon. C'mon, get up from there." Seth got him by one arm and hauled him up as carefully as he could, making sure he didn't knock his head against the top of the closet. Dean's legs gave out right away and Seth had to half drag him to the bed, laying him out prone and shifting him over just enough to he wasn't literally face down in the comforter. "There. Better than the floor, right?"

Dean just stared at him like he really couldn't make out what Seth was saying. Up close he looked so much worse than he had even a few feet away; his forehead was swollen up, already starting to show the first signs of bruising along with the start of what were going to be two killer black eyes. "Lucky you didn't break your nose too, you're gonna look pretty enough this time tomorrow." If Seth kept talking it meant he wouldn't start panicking; aside from the swelling Dean had no color at all and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. "You are not allowed to die in my bed, Ambrose."

Dean didn't respond to that either. He still had concrete dust in his hair; Seth started brushing it off before he realized that was getting evidence all over the comforter. "Don't know how everyone doesn't know where you went, you're leaving a trail everywhere." Seth sighed and started brushing the dust again anyway. He didn't like the way Dean was breathing either, a little too rough and a little too fast. Dean whimpered when he brushed against a tender spot, eyes wide and fingers digging into the comforter. "Hey, sorry, sorry."

"No you're not." He took one of those scary, shaky breaths, moving like he was going to push himself up from the bed and...Seth didn't know. Take a swing at him, maybe. Seth thought he'd be okay with with Dean taking a swing right now.

He got almost half way up before Seth could see that was as far as he was going to get; Seth caught him before he could fall on his face and eased him back to the bed. Dean clutched onto his shirt when Seth tried to step away. "Easy, Ambrose. You're fine." Dean started to shake his head before Seth stopped him. "Quit moving around so much. Stay still."

"Feels like I'm falling."

Seth crouched by the side of the bed. "Yeah, I know. I had that too once, that's 'cause your head's a little messed up. You're not, okay?" Seth couldn't believe Dean could be this concussed and still manage to look so suspicious. He pried Dean's hand away from his sleeve, a little spooked by how easy it was to do. "Squeeze my hand as hard you can." Dean gave him that dubious look again. "Humor me." When Dean did it wasn't full strength but not as bad as Seth feared it would be. "Could you feel my hand when you did that?"

"I...yeah. Hurts, though. It's all pins and needles, everything hurts."

Seth poured everything he had into shutting up the alarm bells going off in his head. "Why'd you run from the doctors? For once you actually need to listen to those quacks."

"Knew what they were going to tell me."

"You didn't even let them look at you, they don't know what they were going to tell you."

"I heard 'em talking. I saw the looks they were giving me." He was getting agitated again and Seth put one hand flat against his back to keep him from trying to get up. "I didn't want to hear it." He was slurring bad again, little moans catching on the edges of each breath like the pain was getting away from him. That spooked Seth almost as bad as the sound of the blocks cracking had, Dean hated showing when he hurt. "What did I do to you?" Dean whispered, looking through Seth instead of at him.

"Huh?"

"I keep...keep trying to figure it out. Get trying to beat me but you didn't. Wanted to make sure I'd never get up."

Seth sighed. "It's not something you _did_ , Dean. It's not, it was never anything like that. That goes for everything, this, the Shield, all of it. You keep making everything personal and it's not, it was never about you."

It took Dean a few seconds to process that. "Why then?"

"I...we just needed a way to get you to _stop_. Even if I beat you it doesn't change anything, you keep coming, we both know that. You get lucky and beat me, it messes everything up the Authority. I try to cash in, you messed that up too. Ever since I got this case you're there every time I turn around, we couldn't put up with it any more. It all had to stop." Seth realized he was rambling. It had all sounded so much better in his head. "You didn't give me any choice, okay?"

Dean didn't look very convinced. Seth supposed he couldn't blame him. "You tried to kill me."

" _I did not."_

Dean started to nod, forcing Seth to physically hold his head still. "Just admitted it." He squeezed his eyes shut, blanching even paler.

"You okay? What was that?"

"I...I don't know. Hurt a lot all of a sudden." After a few deep breaths he got his eyes open again, still looking in Seth's general direction instead of actually at him. "Took the last thing I had away from me."

That _had_ been the whole point of all this. Seth just...he didn't know. Wished Dean would stop putting it like that. "I never wanted to do that. I didn't. I didn't have any choice, I had to go through with it."

"Rather...rather you hated me."

"Believe that instead if it makes life easier." Seth sighed. "And you're being dramatic, you don't know for sure this is even that bad."

"I heard them. Said I wouldn't walk, would never get cleared again."

"You walked in here just fine." Seth didn't know what was wrong with the medical staff, sometimes they carried on like the sky was falling every second of the day. "Hunter was lurking around, they were probably putting a show on for him. Telling him what he wanted to hear. They probably had no idea you could hear them." Seth didn't know why he was bothering, once Dean had decided on something it was impossible to change his mind. "This is..." Seth crouched by the bed again, squeezing Dean's hand to get him to focus. "You're scared, right?"

Dean's eyes were very wide. "Yeah."

Seth told himself he had nothing to feel guilty about. "This is like that bad stinger I got back when we were trying to kill each other in FCW. Remember how scared I was?"

Dean's lips twitched up. "You cried."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Shut up." Seth sighed. "The _point is_ , it looked bad at the time but turned out to be nothing. This is the same thing, worry over nothing. You let the doctors do their thing and you'll be fine."

"I don't trust them. They work for you."

Seth started to say that was ridiculous, but he supposed they _did_ work for the Authority. Not that it should matter, that would be low even for Hunter. " _Early yet, but rumor has it we won't have to hear Dean Ambrose's name again for a long, long time."_ "There are other doctors in the world, Dean. This is gonna turn out to be nothing, trust me."

Dean let out a pained little chuckle. "No. You're a liar."

"Name _one time_ I've lied to you. Come up with one lie. An actual lie, joining the Authority doesn't count, I never said I wouldn't do that."

"You said you were sorry."

Seth let out a long breath."Yeah. Guess you got me there." He smoothed some of Dean's hair back, being very careful where to touch him. "Dean, you remember the night you won the U.S.? How right after that match we got to the back and you got all emotional? Said 'cause it was my call you'd go for that one you owed me, I could name what I wanted and you'd make it happen."

Dean frowned. "But then you said I _didn't_ owe you anything."

"I'm a big liar, remember? I'm calling that favor in now." Seth tried to push away what had happened later, Dean pushing him against the wall and kissing him until he couldn't breathe, the both of them wearing their title belts. What a night that had been, Seth could still feel the rush from it all run down his fingers when he thought about it.

Seth knelt so he and Dean could be eye level. "What I want is for you to let Reigns fuss over you as much as he wants. Know you hate that but let him do it anyway. Let him smuggle you home to his big stupid family, let him get you checked out, whatever he wants. No disappearing, no fighting him and no fighting me." All Seth wanted was to plant the idea. "We got a deal?"

Dean's focus was starting to waver, his eyes blinking closed. "Hey. Ambrose, you still in there?" He didn't answer and Seth snapped his fingers in Dean's face until he tried to cringe away.

"Stop."

"Stop freaking me out. Keep your eyes open."

"No. It hurts."

"Do it anyway."

"Why?"

"'Cause you really are starting to look like you might die in my bed."

Dean blinked at him. "I don't care."

Seth drummed his fingers against the comforter. He wondered what Hunter would tell him to do if he called him up and came clean right now. _Here's your chance to finish the job, kid. Get to it._ He wouldn't even have to do anything, really. Sit back and let Dean Ambrose finally self-destruct all the way, let him finally get that death wish he chased so hard. Sometimes Seth wished he could shake all those little punks wearing Dean's shirts until they understood what really drove their new hero.

"Hey," Seth said, whispering right into Dean's ear. "I care. Okay?" It wasn't like Dean was going to remember any of this. Dean's eyes started fluttering again and Seth kissed him, some of the low level panic sitting in his stomach since he saw Dean's hands trembling on that stretcher easing when he at least tried to kiss back. Dean shivered and Seth put one hand on his back again, running his thumb along his spine. "I care. Can that be enough right now?"

Seth had never seen anyone look as confused as Dean Ambrose did right now. "Don't get you."

"Yeah, I know. You don't have to. I called my play, quit trying to make me take it back. You owe me. Care for one goddamned night." Dean's eyes fluttered again and Seth leaned closer. "Dean." It took a couple of tries but Dean's eyes finally blinked open. "Told you to stop falling asleep."

"It's hard."

"Try just a little harder. You gonna do what I said without fighting me?"

"I can't tell when you're lying anymore."

"See? That's how bad you need a doctor." Seth squeezed his hand again. "Promise."

"I don't want to."

"Yeah, I know. Do it anyway."

"Why should I?"

Seth leaned both arms against the edge of the bed. "'Cause..." He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the right words to come out. "When I got hurt back then you talked me down and told me to trust you, it would be fine. That's all I'm asking here. You trusted me with your life for over a year, do it again for one hour."

Dean's eyes were very wide again, the way they'd been when he'd admitted he was scared. "But you did this."

"I know what I did. One hour."

For a few very long seconds Dean's labored breathing was the only sound in the room. Seth didn't know what had tipped the scales but he felt Dean's fingers curl tight around his hand. "Okay."

"Good. Good." Seth sat back on his heels, running through possibilities. "We can't take the elevator, someone'll catch us. You're gonna have to walk a little bit, okay?" He draped one of Dean's arms over his shoulders, relieved Dean really did seem to be going along with this. "Let's get out of here before I come to my senses."

888

Roman Reigns was an idiot about locking his car. Or at least he always had been, Seth and Dean had used that as the basis of some epic pranks when they'd all been riding together.

Seth carefully propped Dean against the back wheel and tested the back driver's side door, breathing a long sigh of relief when it came open. He'd never thought he'd be so happy to see Roman still begging someone to steal his car in every town he drove through. Just getting Dean down to the parking garage had been a minor nightmare, whatever freak burst of energy had kept Dean semi-lucid and verbal in his hotel room had deserted him halfway through. Seth pressed two fingers against the pulse point in Dean's neck and tried to figure out whether it was faster than when he'd checked it at the last landing. He'd been as careful as possible, manually bracing Dean's neck as best he could, even. He really didn't think he'd done any more damage than Dean could have done to himself breaking into his room in the first place. "You're not allowed to die down here either, Ambrose. Just so we're clear on that."

He eased Dean into the back seat, not sure whether to be relieved or alarmed when that didn't wake Dean up. Seth sat on the ground and slid Dean's phone out of his pocket. Almost done. One more thing to do, then he could put this whole surreal interlude behind him.

Seth was surprised to see a password prompt on the lock screen. Dean could barely turn his phone on, let alone bother with the effort of setting up a lock for it. "Never should have showed you how to work these things," Seth said, trying to figure out what Dean would use for a password. He tried Dean's name, nothing. Birthday, same. P-A-S-S-W-O-R-D, 1-2-3-4-5-6, _both_ of which Seth knew Dean had used as passwords for things in the past, also no go. Seth regretted sitting Dean down and making him change every password he had the night he'd found that out. "Why do you only listen to me when it causes problems?"

He was running out of chances. One more wrong guess and he'd be locked out; he was pushing his luck sitting down here with Dean as it was, at some point _someone_ in this hotel would wander down here and catch him. Roman wasn't going to need the car for hours yet, Seth couldn't just leave Dean here and hope for the best. Well. He could. The little devil on his shoulder, the one that talked like Hunter, it was telling him to do just that. Seth was skirting the disloyalty line pretty closely as it was.

Seth tapped his nail against the screen, chewing his lip. One more shot.

Then Seth sighed. S-H-I-E-L-D. The phone unlocked and Seth didn't know why it had taken him so long. "You gotta let it go, Dean. You'll live a longer life if you could just let it go."

Seth shook that off. Time to get Roman down here and then do his best to forget this night had ever happened.

Dean: hey

The phone rang almost the second Seth hit send on the text. He immediately silenced it, looking around to make sure no one had heard that. At least the signal down here was decent.

Dean: stop that

Seth frowned at the screen and erased it. Dean wouldn't care about his spelling at the best of times, let alone now.

Dean: stop tht

Seth shrugged and hit send before he could over think this any more.

Roman: Ok. Ok, whatever u want. Where are u?

Seth actually didn't think Dean would come out and say.

Dean: dont tell anyn

Roman: U got it.

Roman was lying through his teeth but Seth guessed he couldn't blame the guy.

Dean: no medcal dont trust thm

"Best I can do, Dean. Someone's gotta look at you." They'd lost track of Dean once already, the goofs in medical deserved to hang a little bit anyway.

Roman: Ok. We'll find someone else. Where are u?

Dean: in thecar

Roman: ?

Seth shrugged and keysmashed, then tossed the phone into the car next to Dean. He didn't have the rest of this life the spend on this and that should be enough make Roman come running pretty quick. He left the door just ajar, enough that Roman would spot it instantly but not enough to make anyone else who wandered by curious. He climbed up the stairs to the next level of the garage and found a good perch to watch from.

He didn't have to wait long. The door to the garage slammed and Seth spotted Roman making a beeline right for his car, the relief coming off him when he found Dean in his back seat so clear Seth thought they could see it from space. Seth knew he could leave now. Roman was a dope but he was a well-meaning dope; if there was anything Dean needed he would make sure it happened. And his family knew everyone, traveling with him had been like traveling with someone who didn't realize his folks were in the mob, all the people who walked up to them and knew some cousin or uncle of his or went way back with his dad. A part of Seth hoped Roman really would marry Dean off to one of his thousands of cousins they way they'd always joked. It would probably be good for him.

Seth watched Roman's car peel out of the garage and leaned against the railing. He didn't want to go back to his room just yet. Seth didn't think it was the best idea he be on his own anyway, he made stupid decisions when he was on his own, the last hour or so was proof enough of that. He pulled up Hunter's number and hit send before he could talk himself out of it, running his fingers over his lips. "Seth? What's up?"

"Hey, Hunter. Sorry, I know it's late. I was wondering if that offer to do some celebrating tonight was still good."

"Of course it is! Good timing, I'd just about given up on you tonight."

"Well, _those_ aren't words I ever want to hear again."

That got a chuckle out of the boss, although Seth really hadn't been joking. "I'll send a car around, where are you?"

"I'll be down in the garage, just have someone swing by."

"Sounds like a plan. This whole night's been a big step forward for all of us, I want to make sure you know that."

"Yeah. Time to look forward, I hear you."

"You okay?"

Seth was going to have to watch his mouth tonight. "Yeah, of course. Just need to get out of my own head, you know how it is."

"I know exactly. You stay put, I'll have someone there any second."

Seth ended the call and stared into the mostly empty garage. Dean had been right – he wasn't sorry. Sorry would mean he'd chosen the wrong side, and Seth knew that wasn't true. Couldn't let it be true.

Seth spotted the Authority car pull in and straightened out his clothes. Tonight _was_ about the future, and that future was the Authority.

Seth got into the car and closed his eyes, brushing the last of concrete dust off his hands as they pulled away into the night.


End file.
